Ben Chessor
The Navigator
The Mariners’ women’s basketball team continued their perfect season, picking up four more wins in the last two weeks. The victories have moved the Mariners to 14-0 on the season. VIU is the only undefeated team in PacWest women’s basketball—every other team has at least four losses.
On Friday, January 17, the Mariners took on Quest University in one of the closest games of their season. Quest actually held a 39-33 lead at halftime, but the Mariners stormed back in the second half to capture the 73-70 come-from-behind victory. The Mariners’ defense was huge in the second half, holding Quest to only 11 points in the fourth quarter. The three point margin of victory was VIU’s second lowest of the season. The only closer game the Mariners have played was a 69-67 win over Quest the other time these two teams played.
The Mariners were back in action the next day in North Vancouver against the Capilano Blues. The Mariners took the lead in the game early and never looked back as the team cruised to a 64-45 win. Shayna Worthington led the Mariners in scoring with 17 points while Heather McCarthy added 13 of her own. The loss dropped Capilano to 4-8 on the season, currently good for seventh place in the PacWest standings.
The following weekend, the Mariners played their first home games of 2014. Their first opponents were the Douglas College Royals on Friday, January 24. Despite being in front of the home crowd, it was Douglas who had the early momentum, leading 18-14 after the first quarter. In the second quarter, the Mariners woke up, dominating Douglas and taking a 40-30 lead into half-time. The Mariners continued to overpower the Royals in the second half, opening up a 19 point lead after the third quarter. The final score was 77-57 in favor of the Mariners. The win moved the Mariners to 13-0 in the season, while Douglas College dropped to 5-8.
The Mariners were back in action the next day to take on the visiting Langara Falcons. After starting slow during their last game against Douglas, the Mariners came out on fire to start this game. VIU took a commanding 25-6 lead after one quarter. After the huge first quarter, the Mariners refused to let Langara back in the game. VIU held a 40-21 lead at halftime and cruised to the 65-35 victory. The 30 point victory marked the sixth time this season that the Mariners won a game by at least 20 points.
VIU is alone in first place in PacWest. The Mariners’ perfect 16-0 record gives them 32 points, eight points more than second place Camosun.
The Mariners’ next home games are Friday and Saturday, February 7 and 8. The Friday game is at 6pm against Capilano and the Saturday game is at 1pm against Quest University. For more information on the Mariners’ schedule, visit mariners.viu.ca.